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This editing video stuff is hard work. I know I have a lot to learn and a long way to go. But I hope you enjoy!!!

Celebrating at Disney

Our trip this year was originally suppose to be a celebration of my oldest daughter's birthday, my youngest daughters first year of marriage and hubby and mine 34th wedding anniversary. My youngest daughter and her husband were not able to come at the last minute so the celebration was just us three. Little did we know at the time just how well the Castmembers at Disney would end up treating us. 

Starting with special attention from this guy!

The first day that we were at Epcot she received this free Danish from a castmember.

The first day at Hollywood Studios the guy at the popcorn stand gave Quisha a free bucket of popcorn in honor of her birthday. 

Later that day a castmember at the Cool Station gave her a free slushy! 

These two guys stopped her twice at Animal Kingdom to sing Happy Birthday to her!

She got to meet her favorite characters and they made a big deal out of it being her birthday. 

Now of course they didn't give her this, but how cool is it that she got Galactic Hero? 

The morning we left the server from Boma's gave her a birthday cupcake at the end of our meal. Vier means celebrate! So what if anything do you celebrate when at Disney? And how did the castmembers treat you? I have to say this was one of the first times that we received this much attention and it made a special trip extra special!

Arrival Day.....Dinner at Ohana

After leaving Disney Springs we made a mad dash back to our room to change before heading to my families favorite resort for dinner! Eating dinner at Ohana on the day we arrive has become a family tradition. I can only think of one time where we missed dinner, and that was the day we arrived for Christmas and our van broke down on I-4! 

While waiting for our names to be called! 

Surprisingly we did not wait long for them to call us up, despite some reports I have heard from people who had reservations here and have had to wait for a half hour or more. 

You are greeted by one of the Disney Castmember's who greets you with a hardy welcome back "Aloha family". You are then escorted to your table. In our case we got fairly good seats near the windows so that we could view the fireworks from Magic Kingdom (another perk of dining here). They even pipe the music in so you can get the full effect of the  "magic" that is Disney! 

They start you off with a salad! In case you have never seen my reviews on this restaurant before, 'Ohana serves your table "family style". Which basically means they bring large portions of food to your table so that the family can share. And because it's all you can eat, they don't stop bringing food until you say stop!!! 

Noodles, Pork Dumplings and barbecue chicken wings. The also bring you various meats on a skewer (including boneless chicken, beef, pork and shrimp)! 

Some of my lost footage included the entertainment that night which involves dancing, a cocoanut game with the children, and a parade around the room to Hawaiian music! The performer that night even made a dig at Marc, and although we didn't participate he gave us flower leis as well! They also acknowledged Q's birthday. 

After dinner they bring you their version of Banana bread, topped with a large scoop of ice cream, drizzled over the top with a warm caramel sauce. 

These two stuffed themselves silly!

Can you tell that I am tired and full in this picture? 

They do this nightly, and the open grill area even allows you to see the cooks at work! 

I love Ohana, and I love the theming of this hotel. I would love to stay here one day, but let's just say I would have to come into some big money for that to happen. LOL So I continue to visit the Polynesian Resort for dinner and soak up the atmosphere of the place that way! 

Disney Trip Haul

I just posted my Disney Shopping Haul video up on YouTube. A few of the things I brought are not included in the video but can be found here. It may look like a lot, but in all honesty this is probably the smallest haul we have ever done on a trip. I think we have just become more selective about what we want to bring home (which is a good thing). 

The one thing I knew for sure I was grabbing on this trip if given a chance!! 

I can't wait to countdown to Christmas!!! 

Marc picked these out the very first day at WDW. Wish they had these at the local Walmart we went to a few days later. 

I'm telling you if you can swing it go check out some of the local Walmart's in Orlando! We saved a ton of money on these hats! 

Basin may have just become a must visit and shop at store when we go to Disney. LOL 

The Salt and Pepper shaker set that I didn't even know Marc had picked up. 

These are very well made and were under $7.00 a piece, which is you have ever gotten a Disney mug on property you know how expensive their mugs can be. We picked up all of these at the Character Warehouse store. 

I got my daughter Nicki an Eeyore one similar to the same design as this Minnie one I got myself! 

Got these from the Character warehouse store for under $5 each! 

I can't wait to use this bag we picked up the first day at WDW in the All Sports gift shop. 

At the outlet store in Orlando you can get Vera Bradley bags for up to 70% off! I paid just under $25.00 for these two pieces. 

My one big purchase! 

This was a child's necklace but its a crown and Mickey head!!! Hello!!! 

I have a new found love for some old Disney Characters including Tinkerbell! 

It's Cinderella, and it was $5.00. How could I resist! 

I really wanted a castle necklace but never saw one I really liked so instead I brought a charm and turned it into a necklace once I got home. I used a old chain necklace I had already. 

Our "free" refillable mugs.

Flower Leis we received at Ohana from the musical entertainer. 

Our celebration buttons! 

I found these at a local Ollie's after vacation for like $3.00 a pack. I think I might be obsessed! 

My cousin found out I loved Mickey and all things Disney and gave this to me off of his clock collection wall just because! You may see it in the background in future talk videos. 

Arrival Day 2

We got up bright and early Saturday morning so that we could head to Florida! Notice I am wearing a skirt again. 

Had a nice breakfast in the hotel lobby. 

Arriving in Florida!!! A trip to Florida is not the same without a stop at the welcome center! 

This is what happens when you take grown folk with you to Disney! SMH 

I know everyone gets excited about the online check in, but if we had done that we would have missed a huge blessing! We were greeted by Todd, one of the managers at The Value Resorts. After a lengthy conversation about watches and men's ties with my husband the next thing we knew Todd was giving us complementary resort cups and celebration pins for our visit!  

Check in was fairly easy considering it was 3 PM, and our room was available right away. I got most of what I had requested (which was a quiet room in the back near parking). More on my thoughts about the Sports Resort in a later blog post. 

After we unloaded the car (and after my daughter got a few things straight in the room) we headed to DTS (excuse me Disney Springs) to check out all of the new shops and restaurants that have gone up since our last visit. 

Did a bit of shopping in Uniqlo.

Scouted out The Disney Store. 

The Dress shop! 

Basin! 

And the what I call the Chrystal shop! The one place I will never be able to purchase something at! LOL

After a quick visit, and a brisk walk back to the car in the rain we headed back to our room to prepare for dinner at Ohana's!!! Stay tuned next week for that blog post!

Sidebar: My daughter managed to create a small clip of that day for me to share since I lost most of the footage. I did get a one take video up as well of us that morning before departing Savannah.