Life Has Been Interupted!

Life has been interrupted a lot lately. In the span of a week we had three different family members effected by death. This past weekend we dropped everything to travel to Birmingham, AL for a funeral. I think this is my last trip of the year! Although there was no time for sightseeing, we did make a point to cross the Edmond Pettus Bridge in Selma where the funeral was held.

We spent two nights at Homewood Suites in Birmingham. I would recommend this place to anyone! The staff was understanding and very accommodating. We were walk ins on a Friday night and they gave us the Internet rate! The breakfast that is included with your stay was awesome. There was a lot to choose from at the breakfast bar and the suite we stayed in was roomy and clean.

The Big Surprise and a note about Magic Kingdom Part 2

This whole trip came about because my friend Kelli was planning to celebrate her and her husband Mike's 25th Wedding Anniversary at Disney. Kelli loves Disney more then I do (and believe me that is saying a lot)! Originally we were going to be doing an actual ceremony and Marc would be officiating but that didn't pan out so Kelli and Mike decided to still go and enjoy the week at Disney anyway.  They do plan to renew on their 30th closer to home and Marc will officiate there.

Long story short we started planning a cruise instead (which didn't pan out) until we found out that our nieces competition would be the same week of Kelli's anniversary. This gave me the bright idea to surprise my goddaughter, niece and Kelli all at the same time. Kelli's husband Mike was in on it after we told him when we got together with them early summer in Washington DC. We had been trying since Sunday evening to let her know we were here but unfortunately we could not get her to leave the parks! We even had friends checking from their homes to see where she was so she wouldn't get suspicious of me calling to many times.

The plan was to leave the park and track her down no matter what. We knew the resort they were staying at because I had fibbed and told her we were sending them a special anniversary gift and that I needed the address. I also knew she and Mike had reservations that evening at Victoria and Alberts so I knew we had to act quickly. We tracked down the address for the resort and by some miracle the gatekeeper let us in. When we got to the room Kelli and her daughter Marlee Anne were actually out so Mike had us hide when she came back. My daughter filmed the whole thing. It was priceless. It had taken three days to surprise her but it was worth it just to see the look on her face! LOL

We hung around while she got dressed and then hightailed it back to our room to get ready for dinner at Ohana's with the promise to get together within the next day or so.

Sidenote: Some how I posted Magic Kingdom Part 2 on my craft page! HAHA Enjoy!!! I don't have the energy to transfer it anyway!!! LOL

Part 1 of Magic Kingdom!!!!

It had been five years since our last trip to Disney! To say that we were a bit excited is an understatement. LOL The plan was to hit Adventureland, Tommorwland and see Mickey (especially since we had not been able to get reservations for Chef Mickey"s), Minnie and the princesses before heading out of the park that afternoon when the sun was shining down to bright. I had hoped to come back after dinner at Ohana's but we all know how plans change! We had several snacks and some water in Marc's backpack (some things never change). A few breakfast items in the room so we were set until at least 1 or 2 p.m.

We drove into the gates straight for the parking lot and on to the trams! That's when you really know your at Disney if you ask me. LOL The weather was great but just a tad hot! WIthin minutes we were headed for the monorails ......until one of the CM's said they were not available. Wha????? So off to the boats we go. Thankfully we did not have to wait long. The one thing I love about the ferry ride is that you get to see the monorail hotels and knowing that we would be eating at the Poly that evening just got me even more excited.

As soon as we got off of the ferry we made our way to the "security" section, which if you were standing behind my husband in line I apologize in advance. He is the water carrier, snack host, baby wipe toter...you name it he has it in his backpack. But for us it helps keep us sane during the long days in the park and in bot of our cases for health reasons its important to have the water and snacks available...especially in the heat!

My plan from the start was to grab a fastpass for the Princess and go immediately to the line for Mickey. We had been unable to get ADR's for Chef Mickeys and frankly how could I come to Disney without seeing Mickey!

Mission Accomplished! Granted it took us a miunute to figure out where the fastpass area was. And thankfully the wait for Mickey was only 8 minutes. I have to say I love this system. Way easier then the lines outside for some of the other characters which we never got a chance to do because it was either to hot, or raining. In one case we got in line to see Pooh who my daughter loves and the line was cut off. I think every character should have his own spot inside to meet and greet! LOL And we never did find Tiana.....is she like in the witness protection program or something (granted we got a glimpse of her in the parade later but its not quite the same)?

After meeting and greeting Mickey we headed to Adventureland, along the way my daughter Nicki posed with a few hats and my daughter Quisha stopped to mail a card to a friend (how cool would it be to receive a card from WDW).  Of course who can travel down Main Street without taking a picture in front of the castle!  Then after a quick left through the crowds we were in Adventureland!

Our first stop was Pirates of the Caribbean! Which by the way is even better with the new add-ons. Best part of the ride...no wait! After we finished the ride the family just had to clown around in the shops.

Once the rowdy crowd finished horsing around we headed towards the Jungle Cruise because I knew that later that day it would be near to impossible to get on the ride without waiting in a long ride. As we got in line which was already starting to get long my oldest daughter said that her stomach hurt so we told her we would meet her after the ride at the Enchanted Tiki Room. The CM on this ride was great and her timing on the jokes were spot on. I'm not sure how long it had been since we last road it but my youngest daughter said this was the first time she actually paid attention to the jokes!!! After we got off I texted my daughter to see if she was back from the restroom. She had misunderstood and thought we were in the show and had tried to get in. Of course the cm's had told her that was impossible so she was a bit upset until she realized we were on our way over. Thankfully we only had to wait a few minutes! The show had only been open a few days before we arrived do to refurbishments being done after the fire. The birds are cute and its a great place to refresh yourself on a hot park day.

After coming out of the show we grabbed a quick snack and some water out of the backpack before heading back towards Mainstreet to use our fastpass to see the princess. We made it to mainstreet just in time to catch the Move It Shake It parade (a first for us).

As soon as the parade ended we hightailed it over to meet the princess..finally! LOL

Its always fun to have a conversation....one Cyndi to another! Overall the experience was fun but I noticed that the photographers although willing to take a picture with your camera are not as careful as they are when taking a picture with their own cameras. Which I understand but at times it was a bit annoying especially since we tried to not hold up the line with a ton of photo request. I know I should probably go and look at the pics on-line but I'm not sure that they will be so great that I will want to purchase them. At one point I considered buying the photopass package before leaving for Disney but by the end of the week I was kind of glad we hadn't because we didn't actually take that many pictures with the professionals.  Next up Tomorrowland!

Day 2/Part 2-Pop Century here we come!

There is nothing like seeing those gates into the world we know as Walt Disney World. I always feel as if I am coming home! 

Went with Mike to pick up our tickets at Shades of Green. Then to my other favorite place....Downtown Disney! 

We did not know at the time that this would be our one and only time going there! Pooh!!!!

Did a little dreaming at the chrystal shop and then finally after what seemed like forever we headed to Pop Cnetury! Our home away from home for the week.

Don't you just love a good butt shot! LOL

I had originally asked for a Lake View on the third floor hoping to get a glimpse of the new resort. No such luck. We ended up on the second floor in the very last building (probably a good thing since we took the stairs every day because the elevators seemed so far away). We used our car most of the time so this was not a big deal but the 50's and 60's building just seemed very far removed from the experience of Pop Century so we never actually got a chance to explore. Not to mention the fact that it rained a lot on this trip (again...more on that later)! Augh!!!!!

I forgot to mention that check in was a breeze, and in no time we had our room keys and headed to the food court area to pick up our refillable mugs. Marc was hesitating about getting one but I got him one anyway knowing he would need his coffee every morning. In the end he probably used his cup more then we did. I think we did some shopping that evening, grabbed a quick bite to eat and settled in our room for the night in anticipation of our first day in the park! Magic Kingdom here we come!!!

Day 2-Family

Monday morning after grabbing our "free" breakfast (which I have to say was disappointing in comparison to what they offered back in 98) at the Buena Vista Suites we checked out, loaded up the car (note to self...next time pack an overnight bag for just your one days change of clothing) and headed to my girlfriend Cass' timeshare. They had given us the address and we found the complex with no problem but the place was huge so we had a hard time finding them. We finally had to call them, but knowone was answering their cell phones so we called the hotel line and asked to be connected to their room. Marc even used his official "Pastor Marc" title! LOL

Our goddaughter was very surprised to see us (mission accomplished)!

Marc has not been on a vacation for five years. Loved the fact that he got to have so much downtime hanging out with friends.

We spent the day hanging out with the family and working on projects my girlfriend Cass had to do in preparation for my niece's paticipation in the Miss. Outstanding Teen Pageant. More on that later.

Around 2:30 we made our way to the car to head to our favorite place in the world.....WDW!!!!!

Travel Day

We left Virginia early Sunday morning around 5 AM for the 13 hour ride to Florida. We packed snacks and made a few gas and bathroom breaks along the way but made what seemed like record time getting to Florida. Arrived in Florida just in time to grab some OJ at the welcome center before the sky busted wide open (a sign of things to come). So I didn't get a chance to take the usual family portrait under the welcome sign but quickly grabbed our oj and a couple of brochures. One thing I noticed is that they don't have the individual park maps like they did years ago! So I would have to wait until we actually checked into Pop Century the next day. Pooh!!!

We arrived in Orlando around 6 PM and checked into our room at the Buena Vista Suites. It reminded me soo much of our first trip to WDW. We checked in with my goddaughters family and made arrangements to meet the next day so that we could surprise our goddaughter who had no idea we would be there. I also tried to connect with my girlfriend Kelli who we were surprising for her 25th Wedding Anniversary. Unfortunately her husband could not get her to leave the park! I had a conversation with her on the phone but my family still wanted to surprise her so I didn't spill the beans right then and there. Later on you will find out just how hard this meet would become! Hubby was itching to find the Disney outlets so we unloaded everything and hit the road. Unfortunately the ones near our hotel were closed because it was Sunday and pass 6 o'clock. We did make it to one of the larger outlets before they closed at nine but noticed almost immediately that the prices were not as good as they were years ago. A sign of the economy I suppose. We grabbed a late night snack before heading back to our room to crash before the big move to Pop Century the next day! Wooohoo!!!

Our Disney Purchases

I thought I would have started on my trip report by now....but a earthquake and an unexpected extension of my trip to DC for the Women of Faith Conference for two days because of Hurricane Irene has set me back just a bit! Sooo...I thought I would share a few of the things we picked up from Disney! The towels and blanket were purchased by my hubby. The kitchen stuff are mine...which I find ironic since I don't do much cooking! But I love to entertain so I have this thing about serving dishes and so I couldn't resist the mickey trivets and aqua blue spoon rest (in my favorite shape and color). The mug is actually another one of the purchases from my husband now that I'm thinking about it. Of course as hostess I need cute dish towels and the large mickey pattern in the background is a apron (isn't it cute)! I also couldn't resit the toaster press and the black shaped thing that looks like a cookie cutter can actually be used to make eggs or pancakes! Now how cute is that? LOL